FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson

Woohoo & Your Prayer Requests!

You guys are amazing! We had 118 books donated to the GO Ministries Pastors’ library. WOW! Thank you once again for being the church in practical ways and making a huge difference thousands of miles away!

Our team REALLY appreciates your prayers of support and encouragement along the way.

It was an amazing trip…and this week will be a crazy one of catching up on emails, blogs and comments. But I really can’t thank you enough.

I would be honored to spend some time praying for you this week and weekend…please let me know how in the comments.

how can i pray for you?

this weekend, i am sharing my thoughts on blogging community at the lifechurch.tv internet campus. something i am talking about is how this community here on flowerdust.net has formed over the last few years and how we truly do cover each other in prayer, support, advice, and even discuss the questions of life. we even fight a little bit. all signs of healthy relationships!

so, with that…i think it’s time to have another post dedicated to how we can pray for each other. i will be checking in over the weekend and praying for you, and encourage you to come back and do the same for others.

i’ll start.

chris & i could really use your prayers about our finances. we have cut back so much, but like some of you shared, similarly, we have made poor decisions in our past that we are paying for now. there is also quite a bit of medical debt that we were able to defer but it is now staring at us in the face and is making a tight situation tighter. i could identify with much of what anonymous had to say earlier this week.

please pray that we are sensitive to areas we are able to cut back on so we can build more margin into that area of our life. and for god’s protection. we don’t have any room for emergencies!

wow, that was hard to share!!!

your turn…

churches that rob each other??

ever since returning from africa, i’ve wondered something.

is it just me, or does THE CHURCH seem to have its funds distributed fairly unequally?

if we are all THE CHURCH (made up of individual, local churches)

and, if we are shown an example in acts 2:44-45:

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

then why:

is there a hard working children’s pastor making $75/week and who gets his office furniture from the side of the road because his church can’t afford to buy him any?

are churches closing because they don’t have enough money to sustain ministry?

edit: and i won’t even go into listing things that are broken in churches around the globe and in impoverished countries.

when:

other churches are building multi-million dollar facilities…in the same town, on the same road, right across the street from each other?

…i could make this list longer, but i am sure you get the point.

like really.

why?

thirty people died on easter sunday…

so this post is all about prayer.

i honestly don’t have a lot of creative writing power right now…so, instead of faking something, i’d rather we do something together as this blog community and pray.

a few weeks ago, you all listed your requests…today, i have one of my own.

i got a message from michael about some terrible violence in juarez, mexico. his church has partnered with that community and god has done great work through them. they actually had to cancel their mission trip due to the violence.

michael requests:
Pray for all the citizens of Juarez.
Pray for any tourists that maybe trying to get out safely.
Pray for the pastors of Juarez and their congregations.
Pray for the city, state and Mexican national government officials.
Pray for the police and military.
Pray for the hearts and minds of the criminals.

over 218 people have been killed since the new year, with over 30 being killed over easter weekend.

this article says,

“‘These types of events, which were isolated within the ranks of organized crime, are now seen by everyone, at any hour, in broad daylight, and worst of all, in 100 percent family places,’wrote Ciudad Juarez reporter Gamaliel Carrasco Arjon.”

could you imagine your weekly family trip to the local super target and having your spouse and kids witness someone getting killed right there on the side of the road?

please pray for this situation…

(children in juarez)

not eating the chocolate bunny

as craig said on swerve today, the staff at lifechurch.tv is resting, fasting and praying this good friday. i am really looking forward to having a day of focus like this.

it has been a while since i asked how i can pray for you guys, so please, allow me
to do so today. how can i pray for you this easter weekend?

how does prayer work?

someone who comments frequently here, emailed me this question and wanted to get your thoughts…what do you think?

If you prayed for somebody (financial situation, grief, job stress, and other life issues), but you DON’T tell them that you’ve been praying for them. Would that make a difference in that person’s life especially if he/she is not a Christian?

I’ve submitted a prayer request for her through my bible study group…..now, I may sound like I’m doubting God’s power now…but if I didn’t tell her that some people have been praying for her, would that prayer be less ‘effective’? OR Would God think “No…I don’t have plans for her.”

Your thoughts?

the importance of the present

i found out today that one of my friends back in kansas died.

his name is bart. i met him when i was overseeing communication and media at westside family church. he wanted to serve on the creative team. he had a great portfolio, and a great spirit.

bart and i fell out of touch when i moved to texas. however, over the summer, he emailed me and shared what had been going on in his life.

we emailed a couple of more times, and life just got busy.

that’s always my excuse, anyway.

a few minutes ago, crystal emailed me and let me know he had passed away. i couldn’t believe it. i had never responded to his last email.

life just got busy…

today, i was hit in the face with a harsh reality. one we all know, one we all hear, all the time.

life is short.

i now realize, with a terrible feeling in my gut, that i let life get busy.

too busy for so many things that matter. really matter.

i have wasted so much time.

i must stop.

please pray for bart’s family. leesa is his wife. they have a son, grant.